Over 500,000 in human chain to press right to schooling

KATHMANDU, Nov 27: Over 500,000 students and members of the general public formed a human chain along the 27km length of the Ring Road and major parts of the Valley on Friday, demanding that the stakeholders ensure the right to education.

Organizers said that the program was held as a symbolic protest against the serious violation for over three months now of the fundamental right of over 7.1 million Nepali students to attend school.


Students holding placards which read, "Let us live and study", "Respect our human rights", "Let us go to school" and the like, displayed their exasperation with the government and the agitating groups for not doing much to resolve the political crisis so that schools will not be facing such a tough time conducting classes.

"We really do not get it why schools and school children are always at the receiving end for fulfill political interests," said Apeksyha Sharma, an eighth grader at Awareness International School, New Baneshwor. She says students have been desperate to vent their feelings as schools in the tarai have been forced shut for around 100 days.

Students expressed dismay over the lack of sensitivity towards the plight of the schools, which are often touted as a zone of peace.  

Chairperson of the Association of Private Educational Institutes of Nepal (APEIN), Karna Bahadur Shahi, said that  students are unsafe in the tarai as the protests there can turn violent in no time. Thus, it was important for the students to come out onto the streets and demand safety and guarantee of their right to schooling.

"Shutdown of schools for over three months in the tarai is a very serious issue that needs to be highlighted," he said, adding that schools have not been able to conduct classes smoothly even though the United Democratic Madhesi Front has given assurances of allowing unhindered educational activity.

Shahi also said that the government has failed to ensure the supply of fuel to school buses despite its commitment to provide fuel to these on par with emergency vehicles.  

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed concern over the increasing trend of using school children in protests and demonstrations in support of sundry demands.

Issuing a press statement, NHRC spokesperson Mohana Ansari stated that the use of school children to form the human chain violated the Child Rights Act 1990, which restricts the use of school-going children in any protest activity.

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